Forensic & Criminal Psychology

Criminal Behaviour:
Before talking about what forensic
and criminal psychology is, we must
define criminal behaviour first. Criminal behaviour suggests a
large number and variety of acts. Andrew and Bonta (1998) suggest
four broad definitions of criminal behaviour and the acts and
behaviours that fit within these domains. These four areas are
legal criminal behaviour or actions that are prohibited
my the state and punishable under the law, moral criminal behaviour
which refers to actions that violate the norms of religion and
morality and are believed to be punishable by a supreme spiritual
being, social criminal behaviour which refers to actions that
violate the norms of custom and tradition and are punishable by
a community and finally psychological criminal behaviour that
refers to actions that may be rewarding to the actor but inflict
pain or loss on others - it is criminal behaviour that is anti-social
behaviour.

A good working definition can be
seen as: "antisocial acts that place the actor at
risk of becoming the focus of the attention of the criminal and
juvenile professionals (Andrews and Bonta, 1998). It is difficult
to define criminal behaviour as ideas of what is considered immoral,
unconventional, illegal or antisocial is not stable over time
or place. For example, not wearing seatbelt, homosexual activity
or spanking a child are all items that have been considered both
illegal or legal at one point in time.

Delinquency must be distinguished
from criminality. Delinquency is defined as behaviour that is
illegal, immoral or deviant with respect to societal values. Criminality
on the other hand is defined as a breaking of existing laws, there
is little or no confusion as to what constitutes illegal and legal
behaviors.

When measuring criminal behaviour
we are trying in a way to predict future criminal behaviours.
We may measure criminal behaviour by arrests and charges, however
not everyone charged is found guilty. We can also measure the
amounts of convictions and incarcerations. We can also measure
the amount of self-reported offences and some believe that this
may be a more accurate way to measure criminal behaviour. This
is debatable as there may be reasons that the individuals participating
in the anonymous self-report surveys may distrust that their responses
are anonymous. As well, individuals may over or underestimate
their crimes for personal reasons. Therefore, when we study criminal
behaviour we typically study what is known about persons who have
been defined as criminals through the criminal justice system.

Estimates of actual crime rates
are usually obtained from official sources, yet different sources
may yield different estimates. Crime reports generally categorize
crimes by type of crime and offender characteristics such as age,
gender, race and location.

By estimating crime rates we want
to predict recidivism. Recidivism is
the future criminal offences following a previous offence and
is defined through new arrests, new charges and new convictions.
In general the best single predictor of recidivism is number and
type of previous criminal offences, and these rates will vary
due to age, gender and type of crime. Items such as prior youth
or adult offences, present offences, charges or and arrests under
the age of 16. As well, offence history is important - such as
the use of a weapon, an assault on authority, sexual assault and
impaired driving - in predicting future offences.

A risk factor for criminality is
anything in a persons psychology, developmental or family history
that may increase the likelihood that they will become involved
in some point in criminal activities. A protective factor is anything
in a persons biology, psychology, developmental or family history
that will decrease the likelihood that they will become involved
in criminal activity.

Delinquency also has a relationship
to attachment to peers. Brownfield and Thompson (1991) found that
boys who had committed delinquent acts were more likely to have
friends who had done so as well. This increased when the friend
was considered a "best friend." As well, risk factors
can be divided into the various childhood time periods that they
may occur and increase later criminal activity. Patterson, De
Baryshe and Ramsey (1989) proposed the Patterson model. Risk factors
that may be experienced in early childhood include poor parental
discipline and monitoring, poor family environment, coercive parent-child
relationships, instability in the family and early childhood conduct
problems. Middle childhood risk factors include rejection by normal
or conventional peers, and academic failure and underachievement.
Late childhood and early adolescence risk factors include a commitment
to a deviant peer group.

The "cycle of violence hypothesis"
predicts that abused children will become abusers and victims
of violence will become violent offenders. Abused and neglected
children are more likely to exhibit delinquent characteristics
as well as criminal and violent behaviour as adults.

Some possible factors about the
individual that may lead to crime can be speculated. Things such
as chromosomal patterns, physiological under arousal, hyperactivity/ADHD,
impulsivity, learning disabilities, fetal alcohol syndrome and
other neurological damage, low IQ, hormonal imbalances, antisocial
personality disorder, psychopathology
and biochemical imbalances may contribute to risk of criminal
behaviour.